Timeline of the 2003 invasion of Iraq: Difference between revisions

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Military forces from the United States, Britain, and Australia invaded Iraq after the expiration of a 48-hour deadline set by President George W. Bush on March 18, 2003, demanding that Saddam Hussein and his two sons Uday and Qusay leave Iraq.

This entry informs about the ongoing military events.

Related entries

• Iraq War for a list of related articles

For the events leading to the invasion, see:

• Iraq disarmament crisis
• preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq.

For information about the pros and cons of war on Iraq see:

• American popular opinion of war on Iraq
• American government position on war on Iraq
• Worldwide government positions on war on Iraq
• Public relations plans for war on Iraq
• Popular opposition to war on Iraq
• Global protests against war on Iraq
• The UN Security Council and the proposed Iraq war
• Alleged impacts of invading Iraq

March 20, 2003

At approximately 02:30 UTC or about 90 minutes after the lapse of the 48-hour deadline, at 5:30 am local time, explosions were heard in Baghdad. At 03:15 UTC, or 10:15 pm EST, President George W. Bush announced that he had ordered the coalition to launch an "attack of opportunity" against specified targets in Iraq. According to the Pentagon, 36 Tomahawk missiles and two F-117 launched GBU-27 bombs had been used in this assault. It has become clear that the targets were high-level Iraqi governmental officials, including Saddam Hussein himself, and were based on specific intelligence which led the U.S. government to believe it knew his movements. Later, Iraqi state television broadcast an address by Saddam Hussein. The U.S. and U.K. analysed the footage closely because they believed one of his body doubles may have been used, but the U.S. eventually said it believed the address was indeed delivered by Saddam Hussein himself. It has not yet been ascertained when the address was recorded, however.

It was later announced that Special Forces troops were operating inside Iraq; Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. all have Special Forces troops in the area. Soon after the strike on Baghdad, Iraq launched a number of missiles at targets in Kuwait, including the coalition forces stationed there. The coalition reported that they caused no damage. Some have speculated that these may have been Scud missiles, but this has not yet been confirmed. If true, this would be a material breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1441 and would be counter to what Iraqi officials had claimed. It is known that they carried conventional explosive warheads, not chemical or biological payloads. Later in the day, both U.K. and U.S. ground troops moved into the demilitarised zone between Iraq and its neighbour, Kuwait, and then into Iraq itself. During the night, eight British and four American troops were killed when a transport helicopter crashed. Official reports said the crash was not due to enemy action.

The coalition forces were commanded by General Tommy Franks. The Iraqis named commanders in each of several regions a few days before the invasion.

March 21, 2003

Early in the morning, British Royal Marines occupied the strategically important al-Faw peninsula in the south-eastern corner of Iraq. Later in the day, a combined force of Royal Marines and U.S. Marines were said by official sources to have captured the nearby town of Umm Qasr, Iraq's only deep-water port. Coalition forces were greeted with cheers from some Iraqi citizens as they took control of the city. Earlier, the U.S. Marines had been forced to retreat by heavy gunfire after crossing the Iraqi border. They were able to cross the border again with the support of two M1 Abrams tanks. A BBC reporter with the troops said that the coalition forces were not in complete control of the town, and reported that helicopters had been called in to help establish control.

Throughout the day, U.K. and U.S. forces moved through the south of the country, with forces towards the East reportedly reaching the edge of Iraq's second city, Basra and the U.S. Third Infantry division towards the West reaching the outskirts of the strategically crucial town of Nasiriya on the river Euphrates, where they came under fire from Iraqi defences. The British government claimed that the forces had all the major southern oil fields under control.

There was also fighting in the north of the country, with some reports that it involved U.S. Special Forces. During the day, a number of oil wells - seven, according to the British government - were reported to be on fire. Again according to the British government, two of the fires were extinguished by special firefighting troops. The Iraqi government denied that oil wells had been set on fire, saying that it had set fire to oil-filled trenches as a defensive measure against airstrikes.

At around 18:00 UTC, Baghdad came under heavy aerial bombardment, in what appears to be the start of the promised massive aerial attack of Iraq intended to produce a "Shock and awe" effect on the population of the country. The Pentagon later reported that 320 Tomahawk missiles had been launched on targets in and around Baghdad. According to the Iraqi Minister for Information, the strikes wounded 207 civilians, although this has not been independently verified. Simultaneous airstrikes were reported to have taken place in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk.

Near midnight UTC, it was reported by the U.S. military that the commander and deputy commander of the Iraqi Army 51st Division had surrendered to U.S. Marines. It was not reported how many of the division's men had also surrendered. The Iraq government reported that no Iraqi troops had surrendered, and that reports to the contrary were US propaganda.

In Southern Iraq, Iraqi forces are reported to have fired on Allied lines with Russian made 122mm howitzers; weapons used by the US against Iraqi forces are reported to include 155mm howitzers, Hellfire missiles, Cobra helicopter gunships, and bombardment by explosives and napalm.

During the day, the first U.S. combat casualties were reported - two U.S. Marines were killed in action in southern Iraq. Iraqi state television showed what it said was footage of Saddam Hussein meeting with one of his sons, in a further attempt to prove that he had not been killed in the previous day's attack on Baghdad.

March 22, 2003

Airstrikes on Baghdad continued, with the attacks now concentrated on the city's outskirts.

Around midnight UTC (early morning local time), the Turkish military stated that 1,500 Turkish troops had moved into northern Iraq. The intervention of Turkish troops had been opposed by the U.S. German government has announced that it will call back the German AWACS personell watching NATO airspace above Turkey if Turkish troops engage in fights in northern Iraq.

At 1:15 UTC, a collision of two British Sea King helicopters over the Gulf killed six British soldiers and one American.

At 10:00 UTC, it was reported that U.S. forces were attempting to occupy the city of Basra, and were involved in a major tank battle on the western side of the city.

Kurdish officials report a US missile attack on territory held by the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam.

According to Iraqi government reports, there have been 2 civilians killed and 207 wounded, mostly women and children. There have been no defections or surrenders of Iraqi troops, and western footage to the contrary is showing kidnapped Iraqi civilians. Five US tanks and numerous vehicles have been destroyed by Iraqi fighters, and the coalition forces entered but been repelled from Um-Qasr.

Iraqi goverment puts a bounty of 50 million dinars (33,000 $) for capture, 25 million dinars for the killing of each "mercenary".

March 23, 2003

USA and British forces succeeded in taking the airport outside of Basra, and are in battle with Iraqi forces for control of the city itself.

US Marines battle Iraqi forces near the city of Nassiriya, a key crossing of the Euphrates River about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad.

A British tornado fighter was hit by an American Patriot missile resulting in the death of the two British pilots.

Media report about pictures of British and American soldiers wounded and killed by Iraqi forces, as shown by the Arabian Al Dschasira TV network.

The British TV network ITV informs that its reporter Terry Lloyd was killed yesterday near Basra. Some media sources assume that he was killed by US or British soldiers shooting Iraqi soldiers in cars next to his car.

External links

Collections of news reports:

• BBC
• CNN
• The Guardian